Ben Roethlisberger: 'Kevin Colbert and them drafted him to be my center my last year. Now he is playing fullback'

One of the more discussed storylines of Steelers training camp this past week has been the team’s decision to tinker with offensive lineman Kendrick Green at fullback.

The 2021 third-round pick out of Illinois has shown some ability to play the position, opening eyes with a few blocks, runs and even a pass reception or two.

“It’s been solid. We’ll keep looking at him and others,” head coach Mike Tomlin said of Green’s potential new role. “Specialization — we get in an environment like this, we’d better be open to secondary jobs and roles and getting to know the individuals and finding out what it is that they can do.”

During his most recent “Footbahlin’” podcast, former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger credited Green for his position flexibility.

“I hope he gets the ball at the goal line and does something. That’d be awesome,” Roethlisberger said. “Good for him to find a way to get on the field. He could say, ‘I’m not the starting center anymore, I’m not even the backup center. I don’t even know what I’m doing.’ And quit. But, no. He’s like (raises hand) ‘How can I help the team?’”

But Roethlisberger also seemed … hmm, what’s the word I’m looking for here … bemused at the experiment.

“He was my center my last year. They drafted that guy to be my center. Well, last year, he didn’t even dress. And now they have him playing a little bit of fullback,” Roethlisberger said with a smile. “Kevin Colbert and them drafted him to be my center my last year. And now he is playing fullback. But good for Kendrick.”

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“They could’ve gotten me,” replied Roethlisberger’s co-host Spencer Te’o.

“Anybody,” Roethlisberger quipped.

Now Roethlisberger prefaced his comments by saying, “This is not a knock on him. I love Kendrick Green. He was a great guy. Good teammate.”

Well, maybe not a knock on him (directly). But it was clearly a dart at the front office and coaching staff for drafting him and making him the starter as a rookie.

After all, Green was more of a guard at Illinois. He is on record as saying he didn’t really like center. Plus he had to take on the job of replacing All-Pro Maurkice Pouncey at the position in his first year.

But I’m sure Tomlin and Colbert enjoyed the episode nonetheless.